A Department of Defence spokesman has said it does not want to respond to Ms O'Flaherty's criticisms at this stage, but pointed to comments made by the Minister in the Dail last month.
Responding to questions tabled by Fine Gael's spokesman for defence, Mr Michael Finucane, and Labour deputy Mr Jack Wall, in the Dail on October 24th, Mr Smith said all the safety recommendations which called for action by the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces were "being considered as a matter of priority". Recommendations involving the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources were also being "closely examined" by that Department, he said.
A working group involving representatives of the three groups had its first meeting on October 5th and would meet "on a regular basis to ensure speedy implementation" of the safety recommendations in the report.
"Progress reports from the various bodies involved will be presented and reviewed," Mr Smith said, "following which composite progress reports will be presented to me at regular intervals." Action had already begun on several recommendations, including commissioning an air operations safety audit, and the immediate establishment of an air safety office.
An air safety officer, recommended in the Price Waterhouse review of the Naval Service and Air Corps completed in February, 1998, has been sanctioned only in the past month.
Pressed by Mr Finucane, who sought an apology for the families, and Mr Wall who persisted in seeking information on the lack of an air traffic controller, the Minister said he was "just as saddened" about the circumstances, and acknowledged that it would have been "much more satisfactory if the person in the airport's traffic control tower was more highly qualified".
"However, it is important to note that it is always the captain, the pilots and the people in the aircraft who make the judgment call on the night. It is not me," Mr Smith said, to an angry response from Mr Wall who accused him of trying to shift "the onus of responsibility" on to the captain and his crew.
Meanwhile, the partner of the late Capt Michael Baker, Ms Siobhan Dunne, has expressed anger at the Government's response to the Air Accident Investigation Unit report into the Tramore crash.
In an open letter to the Minister for Defence, Ms Dunne has called on Mr Smith to explain why no proper air traffic controller was present on the night of the tragedy and why the crew of Rescue III were only told this on the day of the mission when they arrived at Waterford to take up their duties.
Ms Dunne says she had already asked the Minister, at a meeting shortly after the crash, to reassure her that such an accident would never occur again. He didn't then, she says, nor did he during questions in the Dail on October 24th.